


love is the drug

by allmywill



Category: Arcadia (UK Band), Duran Duran, The Power Station (Supergroup)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Getting Back Together, Growing Up Together, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23331016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmywill/pseuds/allmywill
Summary: John has something to say before they take the stage atLive Aid.
Relationships: Nick Rhodes/John Taylor (Duran Duran)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 8





	love is the drug

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pink_and_Velvet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_and_Velvet/gifts).



> as requested by Tash, i hope you enjoy this and i hope you feel better soon!

John can’t take the way Nick is looking at him. Those sorry eyes, the ones he has come to know and love, are bringing the guilt raining down upon him.

Their familiarity beneath the heavy eyeshadow and eyeliner brings him back to their early days in an instant. He thinks of nights together, staying up late and talking endlessly about their future. So many dreams.

Playing their beloved Roxy Music albums and sitting on the floor of his bedroom, sometimes Nick’s bedroom: they had grown impossibly close.

Those were the most beautiful days, the days of _Nick and Nigel_ , young and naive. A little reckless but determined. A little scared but curious. That curiosity lead them down many paths.

He remembers their first kiss, how it opened so many doors. Those soft lips, once uttering such joy, are now somber when they speak. Maybe it’s just the splinters, his _Arcadia_ and his own _Power Station_ , set apart but along the same vein, somehow. Dressed in black, he’s beautiful, but it hurts to look at him.

Trying to get close when they’re finally alone for a moment proves to be difficult. Nick veers away as if it’s an instinct. They have a couple minutes before they go on, and maybe it’s the drink talking, but he’s craving to feel those pouting lips on his own again.

“Please, Nick,” John almost begs, considers getting down on his knees too. “Why won’t you just talk to me?”

Nick turns around, pretty eyes full of longing. “I told you, John. The drugs, the drink. I can’t watch you destroy yourself like this.” He sighs. “It hurts me.”

John feels him slipping. They’re running out of time, both now and in the long run. Like sand from a broken hourglass, Nick is slipping through the cracks between his fingers.

He can’t let that happen, not after all they’ve been through together.

“I’ll stop it. Right now, today.” John doesn’t know how true his words will remain once the temptation strikes; he knows it will again eventually. But he wants to believe himself, just as he wants Nick back the way he had him before.

“It’s either me or the drugs, John. You can’t have both.”

“I want you more than the drugs.”

Silence. John fears he’ll walk away, out onto the stage without a word. But he comes closer, a hand pulling the front of his shirt as their lips collide, mere seconds before the time is up.

John knows he can taste the alcohol burned into his lips, and he’s hoping his words burn brighter.

Nick pulls away, dark eyes looking up at him with that same old longing again. “Prove it to me. Tonight.”


End file.
